Most Leaders would agree that goal-setting is an important component of an annual performance drumbeat. Just like a ship with no rudder or power, it probably won't end up anywhere near where it wants to go. However, the goal-setting process often becomes unnecessarily complicated and ironically can also be counterproductive to performance.
If the objective of goal-setting is to ensure that the Company Goals are achieved, all employees should have a clear view on how their work is contributing to these goals. Employee Life takes a back-to-basics approach to goal setting which underpins simplicity and clarity for all, and supports a simple suggested process.
- Leaders set 3-5 Strategic Goals/Focus Areas for the period (e.g. 12 months)
- Supervisors/Managers and their teams agree on how each team/individual will contribute to these areas over a specific period (e.g. Quarterly).
- All goals are created in a 'towards' language, most likely with measurable key results. This allows for progress over the period to be visualised and easily understood. This focus on progress is important to create constant movement towards the stated goals.
- Every single team/individual goal should be associated (tagged) with one of the overall Strategic Goals/Focus Areas. This is a simple process within the Employee Life platform.
If a supervisor or individual cannot 'tag' a team/individual goal with one of the strategic objectives, this becomes a point of discussion - is it actually important?
Simplicity and Clarity are powerful concepts when it comes to goal-setting, thereby avoiding the wasted time associated with confusing processes.